What You Need to Know From Week 12

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CHI @ DET

• Andy Dalton can still run a competent pass offense, so much so that Matt Nagy preferred to establish and neglected feeding David Montgomery to the tune of 21 running back handoffs to 39 pass attempts. We’ll see what this split looks like if Justin Fields can return against Arizona this week.
• Darnell Mooney has arrived and should be considered a fantasy WR2/WR3 until we see otherwise.
• D’Andre Swift left with a shoulder injury and is on the doubtful side of questionable for Week 13 based on early information. Jamaal Williams should be picked up in even the shortest bench leagues.

LV @ DAL

• Derek Carr and the pass offense broke out of their slump, which helped Josh Jacobs too. Desean Jackson has become a more stable part of the offense, which opened things up for Hunter Renfrow in the middle of the field. Washington’s defense is improving, but Carr should be projected to be successful on Sunday. Dallas’s pass defense looked as suspect as it has all year, but will face Taysom Hill or Trevor Siemian on Tuesday, so no worries.
• Darren Waller left with an IT band injury in his knee. If he can’t go Sunday, Foster Moreau is worth a fantasy start after he posted a 6-60-1 line in his one start earlier this year.
• Dak Prescott had a big game without Amari Cooper or CeeDee Lamb in the come from behind game script. He will get Lamb back this week, but Cooper is not a sure thing to return. The offense will still be balanced as long as the defense does their part against New Orleans.
• Ezekiel Elliott looked like a shadow of himself and there are differing reports on whether he’ll get rested to help his knee injury. Jerry Jones said he’ll get a “serious load” against the Saints, so we should probably trust that even though Tony Pollard has a lot more juice and still deserves a what the heck flex start in Week 13.

BUF @ NO

• Josh Allen loves throwing to Dawson Knox in the red zone and Knox is a clear everyweek fantasy starter along with Stefon Diggs, while Cole Beasley, Emmanuel Sanders, and Gabriel Davis seem unreliable unless the Bills have an easy matchup. The next four weeks bring New England, Tampa, Carolina, and New England again.
• Devin Singletary will get more work than Matt Breida with Zack Moss demoted, but Breida has more of the goods to make fantasy value. We’ll be watching to see if Moss is a healthy scratch against the Patriots.
• Trevor Siemian needs to be replaced as soon as Taysom Hill is healthy enough to play. That could be this Thursday.
• Tony Jones flopped in his big opportunity with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara both sidelined.

PIT @ CIN

• One week after a big fourth quarter, Ben Roethlisberger looked washed. The Steelers is a threat to be a catastrophic failure in any given week going forward. Diontae Johnson was only decent because of garbage time.
• Pat Freiermuth’s score came in garbage time. He is uncertain for Week 13 because of a concussion.
• Joe Mixon is on fire and the Bengals are content to have him as the centerpiece of the offense which is going to make the passing game pie smaller going forward. Joe Burrow might not be a fantasy QB1 for the stretch run. The Bengals new run-first approach increases the speculative value of Samaje Perine.
• Tee Higgins was Burrow’s favorite target because the Steelers didn’t have anyone who could cover him. He was even the target on Burrow’s too aggressive interception in the red zone. He’ll be worth a spot in our lineups against the Chargers.

CAR @ MIA

• Cam Newton was atrocious and P.J. Walker wasn’t much better. D.J. Moore’s outlook isn’t that different than Brandin Cooks.
• The Panthers also lost Christian McCaffrey for the year. Chuba Hubbard will get early down work and Ameer Abdullah will get in situationally, but Abdullah could be the better PPR back with the likelihood that the Panthers will play from behind against remaining opponents like Tampa and Buffalo.
• The Dolphins defense mercilessly harassed the Panthers quarterbacks and should be in fantasy lineups against the Giants as the hottest fantasy defense this side of New England.
• Tua Tagovailoa continues to play well enough to earn consideration as the Miami quarterback of the future and a fantasy starter. If Myles Gaskin hadn’t scored twice on the ground and instead Tagovailoa accounted for one or both of those scores, we’d be more excited about him going into Week 13.
• Jaylen Waddle had his best game as a pro and showed his speed after the catch. He’s an automatic start after this ceiling game that we were waiting for.

PHI @ NYG

• Jalen Hurts and the Eagles moved the ball, but the Giants defense, Hurts poor decision making, and Boston Scott’s lack of ball security bailed out the Giants. Hurts is a true boom/bust QB1 heading into a matchup against the Jets.
• Miles Sanders left with an ankle injury. It’s not clear who the lead back will be for Week 13 as we wait for Sanders and Jordan Howard’s practice participation. Scott is worth a pickup in the meantime.
• Dallas Goedert and Devonta Smith are back to feeling like risky weekly plays after a decent stretch of success for the passing game on limited attempts.
• Other than a flea flicker to Evan Engram, you couldn’t really tell any difference in the Giants conservative offense. No one from this passing game - including Kenny Golladay who tangled with Darius Slay and will get Xavien Howard this week - is trustworthy.
• Saquon Barkley broke off a long run, but still didn’t look like himself on most touches. You almost have to stick with him because of running back scarcity, but it’s hard to see a ceiling game coming.

TEN @ NE

• Ryan Tannehill looked feeble without his top two receivers. The Titans offense might not support any fantasy options from here on out. D’Onta Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard’s production wasn’t during meaningful moments in the game and Jeremy McNichols should be back after the Week 13 bye.
• Mac Jones was able to hit a lot of downfield passes against the Titans, giving us some flicker of hope that Jakobi Meyers or Kendrick Bourne (who had a masterful tightrope down the sidelines touchdown) will have value down the stretch.
• Damien Harris was the first option in the backfield and a lot of Rhamondre Stevenson’s involvement came when the game was decided even though Harris got the garbage time touchdown.
• Hunter Henry’s hyperefficiency in the red zone is crashing as for the second straight week his end zone target wasn’t a good one.

ATL @ JAX

• Cordarrelle Patterson wasn’t 100% physically but was 100% fantasy hero for the teams that trusted him. He gouged the Jaguars run defense.
• Kyle Pitts got all of the attention and Matt Ryan won’t force the ball to him, so Russell Gage benefitted with a lot of short catches and should be a good PPR option against Tampa.
• Dan Arnold went down with a knee injury, but that narrowing of the target tree still didn’t make Marvin Jones or Laviska Shenault a viable play.
• James Robinson might have been briefly benched after a fumble, but came back in and was once again the only good thing in this Jaguars offense.

TB @ IND

• The Bucs took what the Colts defense gave them - a lot of Leonard Fournette, including in the passing game, and Rob Gronkowski in the middle of the field. Tom Brady, Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans fantasy prospects could be dimmer if defense continue to treat Tampa this week, but the team prospects are still bright because of the offensive flexibility they displayed.
• Alternatively, if Brady had thrown short touchdowns on 2-3 of the four rushing scores, we would still be talking about him as a fantasy stud despite the downfield pass not being there, so don’t go away from him against Atlanta.
• Carson Wentz shouldered the offense with the Bucs front slowing down Jonathan Taylor for the first three quarters, and he looked good doing it. He’ll have value in matchups that force the Colts to pass more, but the Texans this week might not be one.
• Taylor fell just a few yards short of extending his streak of 100 scrimmage yard and 1 rushing score games to nine, but he’s still the most valuable fantasy football running back right now.
• Michael Pittman came up small on a spectacular interception by Antoine Winfield Jr and might be fading from his #1 role with T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle both settling into bigger roles in the passing game.

NYJ @ HOU

• The Jets pass offense went back to sleep with Zach Wilson at quarterback.
• Tevin Coleman was the lead back, but Wilson and third stringer Austin Walter got the rushing touchdowns. Coleman is at least a what the heck flex against the Eagles this week.
• The Texans offense and Tyrod Taylor couldn’t string together any consistent production outside of a bomb to Brandin Cooks that saved his day.

LAC @ DEN

• Justin Herbert’s good game against the Steelers might have just been the product of facing them without T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick as Vic Fangio’s defense held him to modest production for the second time in three matchups. Mike Williams also went back to the floor side of his range of outcomes.
• Javonte Williams was explosive in the passing game and scored even though he’s still in a committee, so we’ll have to consider starting him against the Chiefs this week.
• The Broncos passing game has too wide a target tree to trust anyone week-to-week, including Jerry Jeudy.

MIN @ SF

• Kirk Cousins had a few key bad decision that cost the Vikings a chance to win this one, but they also had a few bad calls go against them. It’s possible that this becomes a Kirkcentric offense with Dalvin Cook out.
• Regarding Cook, he’s out for at least two games. Alexander Mattison will start and fourth round pick Kene Nwangwu, who busted a kickoff return score in this one, will be the backup.
• Deebo Samuel was doing damage in the backfield again, but left with a groin injury that will cost him at least one game.
• Elijah Mitchell was back and ran hard, wearing down the Vikings defense. He’s an RB1 this week against Seattle.

LAR @ GB

• Matthew Stafford completed long bombs to Van Jefferson and Odell Beckham but struggled overall as this game was never that close. He and the offense will try to get right against the Jaguars. Beckham and Jefferson and viable Week 13 plays on their deep game momentum.
• Darrell Henderson suffered a quad strain in this game so watch the practice reports.
• Aaron Jones played, but the running game was mostly ineffective. A.J. Dillon ended up being a solid play on the back of his passing game contributions and getting 20 carries to Jones 10.
• Randall Cobb left with a groin injury after a big first half, so Marquez Valdes-Scantling could have some appeal after the bye if Cobb isn’t ready to go.
• Aaron Rodgers again played one of his best games of the season despite doing it on a broken toe. He’ll get to rest during the bye.

CLE @ BAL

• Baker Mayfield is holding back the offense and the Ravens smartly took away the run to force the ball into Mayfield’s hands. Look for opponents to use this approach after the bye. Jarvis Landry at least had a good game to create hope of lasting value.
• Harrison Bryant left with an ankle injury so David Njoku has a chance to gain value after the bye.
• The return of Kareem Hunt didn’t amount to much and it’s unclear if anyone except Chubb will be playable in this offense.
• Lamar Jackson wasn’t himself, perhaps still affected by the illness that sidelined him for Week 11. He threw four picks, but at least supported the value of Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown in PPR leagues, but we’re still waiting for the Rashod Bateman breakout game.

SEA @ WAS

• Russell Wilson still looked mortal and inconsistent and DK Metcalf extended his worthless fantasy game streak to three. There’s not much promise of a better game this week against San Francisco.
• The Seattle running game wasn’t any better. There’s no value here.
• The Washington backfield led the offense with Antonio Gibson finally getting the Christian McCaffrey workload and J.D. McKissic scoring twice. The Football Team is back in the playoff race on a three-game winning streak, so don’t look for this formula to change against the Raiders.